The XX Factor: What women really think.

Should We "Give Chris a Break"?

When I heard that Rihanna might be back together with Chris Brown, only a few weeks after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting her, I found myself hoping that she was right to forgive him, that he isn't like those domestic abusers who do lash out again and again. I'm not the only one who is feeling compassionate toward Brown: Elissa Jolene Budziszewski at College News writes that Reuters commenters have been largely sympathetic to him. So, apparently, is Kanye, who asked on VH1 Saturday "Can’t we give Chris a break?" I started looking for stats that might show that teenage boys who commit violent acts against their girlfriends are less likely to be repeat offenders than older abusers. I feel for the 19-year-old who hasn't learned to control his anger but wants to change—and for the 21-year-old who still loves him but worries the world will write her off as idiotic for giving him another shot.

But I didn't find any numbers supporting my imagined Brown defense. What I saw instead were numbers about how few teenagers whose boyfriends abuse them report what happened. Three percent of abused teenage students tell an authority figure; 80 percent of teenage girls continue to date the person who abused them.

This doesn't exactly mean that Brown won't change or that Rihanna has no reason to believe that he will. But the odds are against them. I'm curious, though, whether other XXers found themselves sympathizing with him in some way, and what you think that means.